(Warning: Long post, lots of photos.) Well, there’s no other way to say it: I’ve been BAD BAD BAD and, boy, has it been FUN FUN FUN!!!
I purchased 6 yards of flannel for my design wall (mostly due to encouragement from Judy Laquidara who hosts Design Wall Mondays as well as Stash-Busting Sundays). I love my new design wall! Thank you, Judy!
Then the fat quarters I ordered from Vicki Welsh’s new Etsy shop arrived. I was almost drooling over her color combinations available in her store, but this blue and brown combination really caught my eye! I clicked on it, and when I saw it was it was titled Bluebird Fabric Palette, I laughed out loud! Of course I loved it — it’s from one of her bird photos (and it’s even more gorgeous in person as I don’t quilte have the colors as rich as they really are)! 8 FQs = 2 yummy yards.
Then there’s the SIX fat quarters I won on Teresa’s blog. SIX! I think her site said five, and I got a bonus! Thank you again, Teresa. They are lovely. 6 FQs = 1.5 gifty yards.
Now I’ll show you what I bought at the Minnesota Quilters Show in Duluth this past week. I’ll start with a pair of hand-dyed socks. I LOVE socks, and I’ve admired Vicki’s from afar. I just couldn’t resist these — and ZERO yards added!
This next purchase is Betty’s fault. Good friend that she is, she knows what I like and isn’t afraid to point it out to me! This is a set of 18 FQs, all marbled and of a nice quality. 18 FQs = 4.5 delicious yards added. In case you’re interested, they have a web store: www.jerisquiltpatch.com.
Next year’s challenge fabric: I decided to buy two “kits” as I heard this fabric colorway has been discontinued. (Click here for a look at my entry for this year.) I love the new feature fabric. It reminds me of a Persian Carpet. I have a whole year to think about it, then do it at the last minute like I did this year! (High school all over again…) 2.5 yards of challenging fabric added.
Other than a little pair of scissors (and I figure you’ve all seen scissors before), that was it for shopping at the show. Betty and I really pushed to see the whole show to our satisfaction (meaning we saw several areas more than once) on Thursday. We stayed overnight in Duluth, which is such a unique and charming city. We were then free to take our time going home on Friday. So naturally we started driving further north instead of heading south towards home! Who could resist a bit of a North Shore drive on a gorgeous summer day?
The sights were beautiful and, of course, we had an ulterior motive. An hour or so past Duluth along the North Shore is a charming township called Castle Danger. How cool is that? It gets better. Castle Danger has a quilt shop called Quilter’s Cabin in what once was a cabin right across the road from the north shore of Lake Superior.
You often see chairs or a bench for the quilter’s spouse’s relaxation while the quilter is shopping. This shop has the most fabulous bench I’ve ever seen. Check out these guys and the view they were enjoying:
I suspect this quilt shop has been enlarged a couple of times to accomodate a generous number of bolts, plus the best selection I’ve ever seen of pre-cuts (fat quarter sets, charm packs, jelly rolls, etc., etc.). First I fell in love with this Moda Simplicity charm pack. So sweet and pastel, I can picture it in a baby quilt (50 squares, so I can do 7 x 7). And I actually had my thinking cap on, and I bought 1.25 yards of one of the fabrics in the line for a border. I usually forget to do that, then by the time I want to use the charm pack, there’s nothing left that coordinates. Approx. 2.25 baby-soft yards.
Then I found this little stack of 12 FQs by Thimbleberries. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Thimbleberries has brightened its palette up a bit recently, and this set is a good example. LOVE these! I couldn’t find any of the fabrics in yardage, so I found another one that will work, and purchased 1.5 yards of the coordinating fabric. Oh, the math gets harder. 4.5 yards of Thimbleberries Goodness added to my stash. Week’s Total: 23.25 yards IN
On the OUT side of the ledger, I used the 6 yards of flannel on my new design wall, I put 10 yards into a backing of a very large quilt (which I will show after it has been gifted), and another 6 yards into backing for SIL Marilyn’s birthday quilt (which I will be starting to quilt today).
Week’s Total: 22 yards OUT. *whew* Thank goodness for backings! I love having pieces big enough for backings in my stash!
YTD 123.5 yards out
YTD 139.00 yards in
YTD Net: 15.5 yards IN
YTD Goal: 75 yards out (now I’m 90.5 yards away from my goal!)
I still need to tell you about another quilt shop and adorable restaurant we stopped at in Rush City, Minnesota, on our way home, but I will save that for another day as I didn’t purchase any fabric there.
Wow! What a great trip this was, and I hope you enjoyed it a little bit too,
Sue
